


What Goes Around Comes Around

by catforqueen



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 02:05:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8037931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catforqueen/pseuds/catforqueen
Summary: Based on a Tumblr Prompt in which Camp Campbell closes and David winds up becoming a foster parent to cope. I may have modified the prompt a little.





	What Goes Around Comes Around

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tumblr user directium](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=tumblr+user+directium).



> Hey, friends.  
> So when I uploaded this yesterday, for some reason only the first little section was added.   
> SO here's the rest! Sorry about that.

“And that, campers,” David concludes cheerfully, “Is why you should never-”

Her trails off as the vicious thudding of chopper blades splits the peaceful quiet of the woods. He and the group of campers he had taken on a hike- some more willingly than others- glance up towards the sky through the tree canopy.

“David? What’s that noise?” Nerris asks.

“It’s just a helicopter. It’s no big-”

“No! _That_!” Nerris interrupts, directing David’s attention to another sound. It’s faint, but crescendoing every second.

“Sirens?” David offers, confused himself. _What could emergency services be doing driving through the woods all the way out here?_

“Um, David? I think they’re getting closer…” Harrison suggests.

“That’s ridiculous. Why would the police be-”

“David!” Nikki calls out from the tree branch she had climbed for a better vantage point. “They’re heading straight for us!”

“Everyone, off the path! Quickly!” David orders, nudging the campers off of the path, just as a squad of police cars comes barrelling down the road. The chopper screams past overhead.

Once they pass, he turns back to the group.

“Is everyone okay?” he asks. After everyone nods, he turns to look at the direction the speeding police cars went. “I wonder what that was about.”

“We should go see!” Nikki exclaims, tearing off after them.

“No, Nikki, wait!” David cries out.

“They look like they were heading for Camp Campbell,” Neil remarks.

“Don’t be silly. What would the police be doing at Camp Campbell?” David asks, taking off after Nikki.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Max mutters sarcastically, trudging after David and the others. “Maybe arresting the fugitive who owns the place?”

* * *

David and his hiking group come skidding to a halt outside the ring of cop cars parked around the mess hall. Gwen and the other campers are huddled to the side. 

“Gwen! What’s going on?” David asks, hurrying over to her.

“Cops are here to arrest Cameron Campbell,” she says with a shrug, keeping her eyes on her phone screen, which David can now see is recording the whole scene. 

“Arresting Mr. Campbell? But why?!”

“Uh… he’s a dangerous fugitive wanted in six countries?” Gwen offers sarcastically.

“Cameron Campbell isn’t a dangerous fugitive! He’s a national hero!” David protests. “He’s a-”

“You’ll never take me alive, you bastards!” Campbell’s voice bellows, as he fires a gun towards the line of police approaching the building. David, Gwen, and the campers frantically duck behind the police cruisers. Gwen gives David a look.

“I refuse to believe it,” he tells her.

“Sometimes I wish I had your naivety,” Max says snarkily. “But I don’t think I could handle being that stupid.”

“Max, what did we say about how words can hurt?” David chastises over the sound of another volley of bullets.

“I’d say words are the least of our problems.”

“Cameron Campbell! Put the gun down!” a police officer calls over the megaphone. “You are under arrest! We have you surrounded!”

“We have to do something!” David exclaims, attempting to stand. 

“Here’s an idea: how about we stay the hell out of the way, and avoid getting shot?” Gwen snaps, pulling him back down beside her. “For God’s sake, David, just let the police do their job.”

“But Cameron Campbell-”

“Is about to get arrested for crimes I don’t even want to consider counting.”

“But if he gets arrested-”

“If he gets arrested, then it’s up to the two of us to take care of the campers. Which we can’t do if we run in there and try to help.”

David looks from Gwen’s face to the faces of the campers looking anxiously at the police approaching the mess hall. 

“Heads down, kids,” he says after a moment. “It’s safer behind the car.”

* * *

David, Gwen, and the Camp Campbell campers watch on as the police load a handcuffed and struggling Cameron Campbell into the back of a squad car. 

“Wait!” David exclaims, stepping forward.

“David,” Gwen hisses.

“Mr. Campbell, I just want you to know… _I_ know you’re innocent.”

“Like that’s going to do me any good,” Campbell mutters. “Thank you, dear boy,” he adds louder. “So I long as I have that to hold onto, my time in prison will be more tolerable. Thank you, Daniel,” he calls as the cops push him into the back seat.

“Um… it’s David.”

“Whatever,” Campbell says with a magnanimous chuckles as the door closes and he is driven away.

“So…” Max asks, hands jammed in his pockets. “Now what?”

“We go back to camp as usual,” David tells them. “We must be brave, and honor Cameron Campbell’s memory. It’s what he would have wanted,” he announces, his bottom lip trembling.

“God, you’re a loser,” Max mutters.

* * *

“You _what_?” Gwen exclaims.

“This property is being seized under state law 94, section B, subsection 233, clause 8. ‘Should the owner of a property be arrested, and having left no children or legal beneficiaries who might pay the taxes on the land, the land shall be subject to seizure by any bank with outstanding funds owed by the owner.’,” the man from the bank repeats matter-of-factly.

“But you can’t do that!” David protests.

“I’m afraid we can. Cameron Campbell has outstanding loans totalling-” the banker pauses, shuffling his stack of paper until he finds the one he is looking for, “Ah,yes. Thirty-three thousand, nine hundred, and sixty-seven dollars. Unless you would like to pay his debts…” the banker trails off, Gwen’s look of horror answering his unspoken threat.

“But… this land belongs to Camp Campbell! You can’t just take it!” David cries.

“By the direct letter of the law: yes, in fact, we can.”

“Why would you even want it?” Gwen asks.

“We don’t need a reason to want the property, ma’am; legally, it belongs to us. However, this particular property is going to be sold to a construction company, who intends to build a new shopping mall.”

“You’re going to replace Camp Campbell with a shopping mall?” David demands, his eyes wide as his face pale. Gwen steps behind him and props him up just as he tips backward from nearly fainting. “You can’t just do that! What about the wildlife? What about the memory of Cameron Campbell?”

“None of the wildlife here has been deemed in need of protection. The city council has already approved the construction,” the banker informs them. “I’m sorry, but this is a done deal.”

“What about the campers?” David murmurs, sinking back against Gwen before sliding to the ground.

* * *

David stares forlornly at the inside of the counselors’ cabin as he and Gwen pack their suitcases.

“Gwen!” David wails. “What are we going to do?”

“There’s nothing we can do, David. Camp Campbell is closing. It’s a done deal.”

“But what about the campers?”

“There are other summer camps, David,” Gwen tells him, exhaustion seeping into her voice.

“What about you?” David asks, eyes widening. 

“I can find another summer camp too,” Gwen replies, although this time her response is a little less certain. She had been lucky to find this job at Camp Campbell. She was not looking forward to job hunting. Not with her liberal arts degree.

David’s final question is so quiet she almost does not hear him.

“What about me?” he murmurs, staring down at the yellow bandana in his hands, running his fingers over it.

Gwen glances at David. It’s clear from his expression that this is the first time he’s considered his fate now that Camp Campbell’s being demolished, in spite of it being his only home.

“I don’t know, David,” Gwen tells him honestly. “Maybe you’ll be able to find another summer camp.”

“It won’t be Camp Campbell,” David says, glancing sadly out the window towards the view he had grown so used to. The view was more familiar than his own face. “There is no where like Camp Campbell.”

* * *

“David?”

David glances up at the sound of Nikki calling his name. He had come down to the docks to watch this final sunset before everyone had to leave the camp tomorrow. He glances over his shoulder to see all of the now former campers.

“What are you all doing here? You should finish packing.”

“We wanted to watch the sunset. It doesn’t look like this in the city,” Space Kid tells him. “Or from space.”

“Unt, ve vere kind of hoping zat you might…” Dolph says, trailing off, but his meaning is clear as he reveals David’s guitar. David takes it slowly and the kids gather round.

If David had a firmer grasp on irony, he might have noticed the incongruity that the campers really learned to love Camp Campbell just as they lost it.

“ _Oh, there’s a place I know that’s tucked away… A place where you and I can stay…_ ”

* * *

**_Six Months Later:_ **

  
“So, how are you holding up?” Gwen asks gently over the phone. 

“I miss it, Gwen,” David tells her. “Everything was so much easier there.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“How’s the job hunt going?” David queries. 

“I have an interview next week. Here’s hoping they’ll ignore the liberal arts degree and lack of experience and focus on my bubbly personality,” Gwen tells him drily. “How’s your job?”

David had recently gotten a job as a ranger at a wildlife reserve. He’d been very excited to return to the wild.

“It’s nice,” he says hesitantly. “It’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s not the same. I mean, I love being outdoors. I guess I just miss the kids,” he adds, shrugging even though Gwen can’t see it.

“David… Have you considered being a foster parent? Maybe having a kid in your life will help,” Gwen suggests.

“Fostering? Gwen! That’s brilliant! I can foster! Gwen, you’re a genius!” David exclaims, happy for the first time since losing his beloved Camp Campbell.

“I do what I can.”

* * *

“I can’t tell you how thrilled we were to get your call,” the woman at the foster agency- Mrs. Allison- tells David. “We’re always so desperate for foster parents. We get so many children through here.”

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to foster.”

“You’ll of course have to fill out some paperwork. Then there’s the background checks, interviews…” she reminds him.

“Oh, of course. I’m just so excited.”

“That’s wonderful. Well, if you have no other questions, let’s get started on the paperwork, shall we?”

* * *

David spends weeks filling out paperwork. He understand the necessity- the childrens’ safety is paramount- but he finds himself wishing that there were less forms.

Finally, he fills out all of his papers, only to then find out he has a waiting period while they run a background check. David is in agony, pacing his apartment, always certain they’ll find some history of crime that he doesn’t even know about.

Eventually, they call him to let him know that his background check came back clear. Now they need an interview.

After his final interview, they inform him that he needs to engage in training. Gwen remarks that birth parents don’t need training. David reminds her that if biological parents had training, less children would probably end up in foster care.

Years of being an overachiever allow David to fly through the foster training and _finally_ he gets a phone call telling him that he is approved for fostering. Even better, a child just entered the system that they think will work perfectly. David is ecstatic and calls Gwen immediately after scheduling a date to meet the kid in a little over a week.

* * *

David adjusts his collar one last time before going to meet his prospective foster child.

As he turns towards the door, he catches a glimpse of his familiar Camp Campbell bandana, and tucks it into his pocket for good luck.

* * *

David is a bundle of nerves as he waits to meet his possible foster child. He knows they’re a boy, about ten, and that he recently lost his family in a car accident. Before going to get him, Mrs. Allison had a few words of warning for David.

“You should know, he can be… a bit of a handful.”

“Don’t worry, I can handle my share of difficult children. Camp Campbell prepared me for that.”

What Camp Campbell did not prepare him for was the shock as Mrs. Allison ushered the foster child into the room.

The sullen kid glares from underneath a blue hood, but upon catching sight of David the familiar green eyes widen slightly.

“Max?”

“Fuck. I just can’t see to get rid of you.”

“Language,” David corrects, a knee-jerk reaction.

“Yeah, yeah. Alright, let’s go.”

“Go? Go where?” David responds, feeling like he’s a page behind Max.

“To your place. You _are_ adopting me, right?”

“You… _want_ to go home with me?” David asks in astonishment. 

“Yeah, duh. It’s a bit harder to hijack a bus here than at Camp Campbell, and I want the hell out of here.”

“Language.”

“Yeah, you’re going to need to stop saying that.”

“Stop swearing so much, and I’ll stop saying it,” David bargains slyly.

“Get me out of here, and I’ll try to swear less,” Max counters.

“Deal,” David tells him, shaking his hand.

“Well, I suppose that’s settled then,” Mrs. Allison says hesitantly.

“I guess it is,” David replies, and even he can’t miss the irony that in an effort to replace the feelings that Camp Campbell Campers gave him, he is taking home the one who hated it the most.

This time, however, Max was glad to see David. Remembering Camp Campbell was going to be a little bit like going home.


End file.
